Here's what i found. I was able to clear the message by opening and
closing and ejecting the cassette. I also had to play with the battery
at the same time. Keeping the cassette door open and then pulling out
the battery. After is did this a couple of times i got the message to
clear. I too haven't used my camcorder for some time and now that the
error message has cleared the camcorder tells me that i need to clean
the heads. Hope this helps. Below is the message i found that pointed
me toward ejecting the cassette. An error indication (E03 or E04) appears. - (E03 or
E04 UNIT IN SAFEGUARD MODE REMOVE AND REATTACH BATTERY) This massage a
malfunction of some kind has occurred. In this case the camcorder's
functions become unusable. - Eject the cassette once and re-insert it,
then check if the indication clears. When it does, you can resume using
the camcorder. If the indication remains, consult your nearest JVC
dealer or service center

E04 error message means that the rotation of the video head has stalled or is too fast.
When the little motor that pulls the
videotape through the camera detects that the tape is not moving at the
right speed, you get the SAFEGUARD MODE error.

The principle here is
that the camcorder detects a problem and shuts down in order to avoid
doing additional damage to the unit. This is a legitimate way of
protecting itself.

A few Quick Fixes to try:

In most cases you should clean your camcorder's heads by running a cleaning cassette through.

A little trick some have tried to eliminate this error message is to keep the cassette door open and then pull out the battery. Doesn't work? keep trying this routine. Some people actually report getting the error message to clear.

Eject the cassette and just when it is about to eject, push it back in... and the error is gone.

In Depth Solutions:
Solution #1: Cold Reset
The reason it tells you to REMOVE AND
REATTACH BATTERY is not that the battery is bad, but that removing all
sources of energy (battery and power cord) causes a COLD RESET. When you
use the unit's on/off switch, parts of the camera are still receiving
power and so you do not get the benefits of a COLD RESET. Just like your
car; turning the ignition off will still power the clock and radio. You
have to completely remove all power. If you are lucky, the camera will
reset itself and start working again.

Solution #2: Awareness of HumidityIt
seems older units would issue the same SAFEGUARD MODE error message for
more than one problem. For example, older units do not tell you that
they are shutting down for an hour because they detected high
condensation, or moisture. So you play with the camera, remove the
battery, reattach it, remove the tape, reinsert it, stand on your head,
pray to your god, go to the bathroom, and voila! The camera is working
again. It was nothing you did, just that the humidity went down enough
for the unit to start working again. So consider high humidity as a
possible source of the problem. If it is a rainy day, or you are near
the sea, you might never get it to work that day in that location.

Solution #3: Head CleaningIf
you have never used a head-cleaning tape on your camcorder, you might
give that a try. Mine has come back to life a few times by doing just
that. Just don't do it too many times in a row because you can
permanently damage the head. Read the instructions.
So we have covered a few reasons why
these errors come and go as if by magic. They are intermittent and
recurring. The camera will appear to work at times, and the next minute
it shuts down.

Solution #4 : Fake SolutionsAnother
reason why the problems come and go is that, as several technicians
have reported, the problem can be a loose connector inside. That is why
some people report that tapping the camera gently or rocking it side to
side has brought it back to life. Some have gone as far as putting
cardboard between the tape door and the tape mechanism in order to exert
pressure and keep the camera working. I can only warn you that these
kinds of "repairs" are temporary and likely to damage the unit further.

Solution #5: Compressed AirOn
some models, there is no shield covering the many delicate electronic
and moving parts in the tape mechanism when you open it to replace the
tape. A piece of dirt, grain of sand, or other debris can get caught in
the tiny gears and stop movement or throw them off alignment. You can
explore this possibility by getting a can of compressed air at any
computer shop and blowing it into the inside of the camera. Follow the
instructions, keeping the air nozzle however many inches away from the
target as they say. Practice on some other object first, because if you
tilt the can or hold it too close to the target you can freeze the
target and do more damage than good. This applies to fingers too!

Solution #6: Tape Age, Brand, and Type
Have you tried using a brand new tape? Or only your really old ones? Try a new tape.
Now for the controversial issue of what
brand of tape to use. Controversial because JVC's own Stacy Sample,
Service Coordinator for JVC in Houston, TX says that "TDK and Maxell
tapes tend to be two brands that are very problematic in our digital
line wherein Panasonic, JVC and Fuji seem fine. We just find that TDK
has the most problems, Maxell is a close second and Sony is 50% of the
time.

A different point of view I ran into
is. Yes, there is an issue, but it has nothing to do with the brand, but
with the tape type. There are MP and ME tapes. These two types use
different particles, and different lubrication. The two lubricating
materials form some sort of goo when mixed together, if you use both
types of tape in the same unit. So as long as you don't mix tapes of
different types, they will work just fine in your camcorder. Some refer
to these types as "dry" and "wet", but I don't know which is which. In
any case, it is not known (to me) how accurate this point of view of not
mixing tape types is.

Solution #7: Do not store tape in unitBecause
of the delicate nature of the miniDV mechanism, do not store the unit
with a tape inside. The theory is that a loaded tape will put pressure
on parts of the mechanism and increase the chance that parts will stick
together, making the tape harder to be pulled by the motor, causing the
SAFEGUARD error.

Solution #8: Send in for ServiceLet
us say you have tried all of the above and your camera still will not
work. Now you have to decide whether to send the camera in for repair or
not. If the indication remains, consult your nearest JVC dealer, JVC
service center or your attorney. Apparently there is a class action suit
in place because of this issue.

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Do a search of this problem and you will ind that every JVC owner is having the same problem. I finally got mine "reset" by powering the unit on in payback mode while holding down the "play" button. Then, turn it back off and power it on in the camera mode while holding down the "rec" button. This seems to have reset it and I've not had anymore issues SO FAR!Good luck with it.

"JVC notes that you are also given a malfunction code when the unit is placed into safeguard. If it displays code 01, 02, or 06 you should removethe battery and powersupply and wait for a while. Code 03 and 04 indicate that you should eject and reinsert the tape.

If neither of these solutions work, your only alternative is to bring it to a shop or send it to JVC for diagnosis or repair. Unfortunately, there is no other way to clear the condition."

According to this, E04 denotes a problem with the recording media or the mechanical bits that deal with the tape. Hopefully trying another tape helps.

The mechanism is out of sync, put a tape in and hold it, it wont go in but will try to open don't let it, remove the battery and reattach, let the tape eject, rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times and it will finally accept the tape.

Here's what i found. I was able to clear the message by opening and
closing and ejecting the cassette. I also had to play with the battery
at the same time. Keeping the cassette door open and then pulling out
the battery. After is did this a couple of times i got the message to
clear. I too haven't used my camcorder for some time and now that the
error message has cleared the camcorder tells me that i need to clean
the heads. Hope this helps. Below is the message i found that pointed
me toward ejecting the cassette. Good Luck, i'm off to buy a tape head
cleaning cassette. An error indication (E03 or E04) appears. - (E03 or
E04 UNIT IN SAFEGUARD MODE REMOVE AND REATTACH BATTERY) This massage a
malfunction of some kind has occurred. In this case the camcorder's
functions become unusable. - Eject the cassette once and re-insert it,
then check if the indication clears. When it does, you can resume using
the camcorder. If the indication remains, consult your nearest JVC
dealer or service center